KARACHI, Sept 21: The death toll from toxic bootleg liquor consumption rose to 39 as 21 more people died at hospitals on Friday.

The condition of 18 more people said to have drunk the poisoned brew was reported to be critical.

Hospital sources said the affected people, who had symptoms of nausea, severe cramps, shaking and blurred eyesight coupled with unconsciousness, had a faint chance of survival.

A ward boy at the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre said he saw such patients being brought to the hospital and bodies being taken away throughout the day.

The Deputy Director of the JPMC’s Accident and Emergency Department, Dr Samin Jamali, told Dawn that 23 affected people and three dead victims of the toxic liquor were brought to the facility on Friday.

“Eleven of them died at the hospital and the remaining 14 are still admitted to Ward 5,” she said.

The doctor said the sick people were in a highly critical condition. “The have minimum chances of survival,” she said, adding that the toll was bound to rise with each passing hour.

Dr Jamali said the affected people were still being brought to the JPMC from different parts of the city.

“We don’t know how many others are still on their way to hospital,” she said.

The illegally made liquor, known as Kuppi and Tharra in the local parlance, contained methyl alcohol, which is intended for industrial use and is fatal to drink in large quantities.

Doctors said the victims died of respiratory paralyses. They said a depression in the respiratory centre of the brain occurred once the victim’s liver stopped absorbing toxicity.

Meanwhile, police arrested six people suspected of blending the industrial alcohol and selling the contaminated mixture to unsuspecting alcohol users.

Capital City Police Officer Azhar Farooqui told Dawn that the suspects, including the main supplier and the main manufacture of the toxic brew, were arrested and their hideaways raided.

He said methyl alcohol, also known as methanol, was used in the manufacture of the brew at a smaller level in different parts of the city.

“We are co-ordinating with other agencies to keep a check on the sale of chemicals for industrial use,” he added.

As many as 18 people died and many others fell ill on Thursday after they consumed toxic liquor in different localities. Of them, 10 affected people died at the Civil Hospital Karachi and six others died at the JPMC. Two bodies were taken away from Civil Hospital without medico-legal formalities.

JPMC sources said those who died on Friday included Mukhtar, 40, from Drigh Colony, Raja Saeed Ghulam, 60, from Bizerta Line, Raja Sohail, 22, and Bashir Masih, 50, from Railway Colony, Sabir, 36, from Mehmoodabad, Mohammad Ali, 26, from Lines Area, Lal Ji, 50, and Johnson, 19, from Frere and Ashiq Ali, 46, from Korangi.